NEWS

KIA dealers are to launch a scrappage replacement scheme to save owners trading cars aged 7 years or older. The 7-year age limit will also help Kia dealers promote the Kia 7 year warranty! Savings of up to £2000 are on offer – that’s on the Kia Soul, pro cee’d, cee’d SW and cee’d hatchback. [...]

2009 sales may have been down by a quarter but Mitsubishi sales and marketing director Toby Marshall is upbeat. ‘Scrappage wasn’t the number one priority.’ The focus of 2009 was different. Dealer profitability was the new goal, achieved via two major initiatives. First Mitsubishi took away the traditional dealer costs, so that training, brochures, IT [...]

USED car sales in 2009 plunged to their lowest level in almost a decade reports data expert Experian. A drop of 5.7 percent saw 6,798,864 used cars sold in 2009. This is comparable to 2000, says Experian, when 6,713,269 used cars were sold – and is a culmination of sales that fell every singe quarter [...]

SCRAPPAGE deals are running dry for many car makers with some insiders predicting they will close order books today. Many big brands are down to their final initial allocations under the Government’s official Exit Strategy scheme. Unless and until further allocations are dished out for the the last dregs of the scrappage fund pot, the [...]

CO2 emissions fell by the largest ever amount in 2009 thanks to the effects of the scrappage scheme. The average new car emitted 149.5g/km CO2 – 21.2 percent less than in 1997. Furthermore, the average car sold under the scrappage scheme emitted just 133.3g/km, 26.8 percent less CO2 than the average scrapped car. It’s also [...]

BY NOW we all know how scrappage works; we take our ‘useless’, rusty old banger in and get £2,000 off a shiny, clean, brand new motor. At least that’s how it’s meant to work, but some people have a very different idea of what constitutes an ‘old banger’. Having spoken to dealers in the North [...]

STRONG February new car sales have been boosted by the extension to the scrappage scheme say dealers. The RMIF says the decision to extend the scheme into March, coupled with last year’s extra funds for the scheme, means sustained demand has benefited showroom traffic. Scrappage sales accounted for more than 19 percent of sales in [...]

SALES figures for February have been released and continue to show a scrappage scheme boost. The market rose by 26.4 percent compared to 2009, with 68,686 new car sales. Scrappage accounted for 19.6 percent – making February the 8th consecutive month of new car sales growth, said SMMT chief Paul Everitt. As much of the [...]

CAR dealers will face a severe shortage of used car stock in 2010 due to plunging new car sales. Supplies of 1- and 2-year-old cars are to face a ‘major reduction’. Scrappage has compounded the problem further, warns Glass’s Guide editor Adrian Rushmore  – 300k new car sales were generated from it in 2009, but [...]

DANGEROUS cars that have escaped scrappage are illegally managing to return onto the UK’s roads. Bluecycle reports that 1 MILLION cars a year are escaping scrappage because there are not enough resources to govern their destruction. This means dodgy scrapyards are ‘bringing cars back from the dead’, at the expense of official car dismantlers. It’s [...]

GOVERNMENT officials have revealed details of a green car grant to incentivise low-carbon cars. From January 2011, car buyers can get up to £5k towards buying a green new motor. It is called Plug-in Car Grant and will be offered by car dealers against the price of eligible electric cars such as the Nissan LEAF. [...]

SCRAPPAGE key car maker players have given Car Dealer Magazine their thoughts on the Exit Phase scheme. Ford, Kia and Toyota have all offered us their views. And it is Kia that is most outspoken! ‘KMUK is somewhat disappointed,’ said a spokesman, ‘that the scrappage scheme exit plan does not properly reflect the clear view [...]

THE end of the scrappage scheme doesn’t have to mean the end of the world, car dealers have told us. We’ve been out on the road in Darlington, County Durham, quizzing dealerships about the end of the scheme and were surprised at just how positive dealers were. On the day the last of the scrappage [...]

SCRAPPAGE Exit Phase plans begin today with 37 car brands each handed an allocation from remaining funds. The managed run-down of the scrappage fund is being instigated to ensure closing-stage dramas are minimised. Car Dealer Magazine was briefed on the Exit Phase plans by the BIS on Monday, but sworn to secrecy. A senior spokesperson [...]

SMMT support has been granted to the BIS managed rundown of the scrappage scheme which starts today. ‘It ensures the fairest means of distributing the remaining scrappage funding,’ sys the car industry body. ‘The quota system will ensure an orderly end to the scheme with buyers and manufacturers both having a clear understanding of available [...]

CAR Dealer Magazine has been sworn to secrecy. And, when we’re given embargoes, we respect ‘em. Man, it’s frustrating sometimes, though! I’ve just got back from Central London, where I’ve been listening to a full-on briefing all about the exit phase of the scrappage scheme. Held by BIS top names, it was literally an exclusive: [...]

HYUNDAI chief Tony Whitehorn decided to show his after scrap hand early because of fears for 2010. The pragmatic managing director of Hyundai UK told Car Dealer he’s worried a combination of the end of scrappage, a general election and predicted tax rises could hit car sales in the second half of the year. The [...]

AUTOTORQ.COM has benefitted from being fast to market in developing a tool to aid scrappage sales. The firm was among the first firms to develop a car dealer devise for maximising scrap leads capture. This has resulted in an increase in customer leads of over 12 percent. The firm launched its online scrappage-boosting tool last [...]

WE love a scoop here at Car Dealer – even if they ruin our plans completely! It’s not the first time an extension to the scrappage scheme has caught us out, but this time really was last minute. With 95 per cent of the pages finished for the next issue of Car Dealer – which goes [...]

FORD may be top new car seller in the UK but it holds 2nd place to Hyundai in the scrappage league. To date, Hyundai has sold 36,647 new cars under the scrap scheme. This compares with Ford’s 35,564 total – and the two brands are way ahead of the 3rd-placed manufacturer, Toyota. The Japanese firm [...]